Girls Who Code: Week 3

I have nothing but good things to report this week. I feel like my girls and I have finally found our stride and we are starting to build a culture in our classroom that is cohesive and fun.

We started the week finishing up our code and iterations on our #SaveTheTurkey challenge. The girls wrote reflections in their journals. I wanted them to really analyze their graphical code and compare it to the JavaScript on Blockly. Here are their reflection prompts:

It was SO FUN reading their reflections as I was really able to see their accurate descriptions of applications of some of the Core4 elements. I was so excited to see this authentic communication I had to celebrate publicly. I feel like this was truly a big step for the girls in building their confidence into the land of “code.”

Towards the middle of the week we began preparation for our district wide Hour of Code initiative. We had 32 teachers across Hardin County Schools who requested a kit to participate in the Hour of Code for the VERY first time ever! Exciting! The girls in my class “adopted” these classrooms to be a champion for their first experience in code. Some wrote letters, some made videos and some drew pictures. #Heartmelt.

Today the girls worked on their presentation for our 2nd annual Hour of Code on the road event where we will be traveling to two of our elementary schools to teach 4th and 5th grade students about computer science. We are partnering up with the IT students in Mr. Allins class. The girls are leading a lessons with the Ozobots, unplugged and Blockly.

Stay tuned for some fun pictures and videos! You can also follow our HCS Instructional TechnologyFacebook page for some live streaming next Wednesday and Thursday!!